1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mechanized agricultural tools and implements, and more specifically to a spear-like implement adapted to be removably attachable to the headgear and hydraulic lifting mechanism of a light snowplow assembly, as adapted for use on a light truck or the like. The snowplow blade and lifting arm are removed from the headgear, and the hayroll or bale spear is installed in place of the plow blade lifting arm. The truck may then be used to drive the spear into a large hayroll, with the hydraulic lifting mechanism used to lift the spear and impaled hayroll from the ground or other surface to transport the hayroll to another location as required.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the mechanization and automation of farm and agricultural equipment and operations since the advent of the industrial age, the size and mass of bulk quantities of the end products produced, has generally increased over the years. An example of the above is in the handling of hay from its harvest point in the field, to another location for storage or use.
Initially, when farm operations were almost entirely handled manually, hay was bundled into shocks which were easily handled by a single farm hand for placement on a wagon for removal from the field. Later, mechanized equipment was developed which automatically baled the hay into relatively large bales which were about at the limit for a single, strong individual to handle. As the handling process was largely mechanized, this generally was not a problem. However, with increasing automation and mechanization, it has become common for hay to be rolled into very large hayrolls or bales, which are far larger than can be handled by even a few strong individuals. These bales may have a diameter on the order of five or six feet and may weigh up to 1500 pounds or more, depending upon the moisture content of the hay and other factors. (While these large rolls are still called "bales," the term "hayroll" is used throughout the present disclosure, in order to distinguish such large rolls of hay from smaller bales having a rectangular solid form.)
Obviously, these large rolls require some form of mechanized equipment for handling. Accordingly, various implements have been developed, such as tines or tine assemblies which may be attached to a conventional tractor, and which may be used to impale a hayroll for movement of the roll from one location to another. However, most of these are limited, in that (1) they require a tractor or front end loader, and (2) such tines must be mounted to the rear of the tractor, or to the front of an end loader bucket, for lifting, and thus the view of the operator is obscured.
Such devices as installed directly to the front of a tractor (as opposed to their installation on other forwardly installed hydraulic equipment) have no means for lifting the hayroll once it has been impaled, as the hydraulics and power takeoffs for tractor are always provided at the rear of the machine. The installation of forwardly mounted hydraulic equipment on tractors, requires additional hydraulic lines and structure. Moreover, no such devices have been adapted to use the hydraulics of light snowplows, as installed on the front of light trucks and similar vehicles.
The present invention provides additional utility during the farming season for such plow mechanisms. The plow mechanism is easily adapted for use with such a hayroll handling mechanism, as the plow blade is generally removed from the apparatus and vehicle during the spring, summer, and fall, anyway. A review of the prior art below reveals other hayroll handling tines, but none which may be used with a snowplow hydraulic headgear assembly secured to the front of a light truck or the like, as in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,837 issued to Lloyd L. Vandewater on Nov. 25, 1975 describes a Round Bale Handling Attachment For A Tractor, wherein a pair of sockets is installed to the top of an end loader bucket, with a pair of tines removably installed in the sockets. The bucket must be installed on the tractor for use in handling hayrolls, thus precluding use of the tractor for other purposes. Moreover, the tractor is strictly an agricultural vehicle, and cannot be used for other purposes, as a truck using the present apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,629 issued to Randal A. Cox on Jul. 11, 1978 describes a Hay Bale Handling Machine principally comprising a frame which is mounted within the bed of a conventional pickup truck. A hydraulic cylinder is provided, which drives a single tine or spear through a 90 degree vertical arc. The truck is backed into the bale or roll, and the hydraulics actuated to position the roll vertically over the truck bed for transport. The device and operation are relatively cumbersome, as the pickup truck cannot be used for other purposes with the assembly bolted into the bed, and the driver must back the truck to impale a roll, rather than driving the truck forward, a maneuver more easily accomplished as with the present invention. Moreover, Cox requires additional hydraulic means to the back of the truck, which complicates the mechanism further. Cox also discloses the attachment of an alternative embodiment on the rear three point hitch of a tractor, which is beyond the scope of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,426 issued to Merle D. Buss on Mar. 17, 1981 describes a Tractor Mounted Round Bale Carrier comprising a frame which is essentially permanently mounted to the front of a tractor. The frame includes tracks for a hydraulically operated tine carrier, which is lifted upwardly and arcuately rearwardly by a hydraulic cylinder. Additional hydraulic means must be provided, as the conventional tractor would not normally have such hydraulic means disposed forwardly. The present device is easily installable and removable from a snowplow equipped pickup truck or the like, thereby allowing the truck to be used for other purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,900 issued to Nickolas A. Cooley on Apr. 22, 1986 describes a Round Hay Bale Handling Apparatus Having At Least One Screw Spear. The apparatus is attachable to a tractor having hydraulic power, as the spear(s) is/are rotated to engage the rolled bale by threadingly screwing into the bale. However, Cooley is silent insofar as any means to pick up the rolled bale once it has been impaled with the screw(s). Also, the device is relatively complex, as some means must be provided to rotate the screw(s), which means is beyond the scope of a snowplow hydraulic system as used in the present invention. To use the Cooley device on a pickup truck or the like having a snowplow installed thereon, the entire plow headgear must be removed, including the hydraulic power pack. Cooley does not anticipate the use of his device on a vehicle not equipped with a hydraulic pump, as he does not disclose any electric motor drive for the hydraulic motor(s) of his device. Thus, one would have to come up with some form of electric power pack in order to drive the Cooley hydraulics, after removing the snowplow headgear which is normally equipped with such a unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,786 issued to Bobby R. Lynch on Jun. 23, 1987 describes a Hay Bale Spike Assembly primarily directed to providing the required attachment strength for the spike to the frame. Lynch describes his frame as being attachable to the lift mechanism of a farm tractor, but is otherwise silent insofar as the specific means of lifting a rolled bale with the spike. If the apparatus were used to replace the headgear with its hydraulics on a pickup truck, no means would be available to lift the spike.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,933 issued to Ronald D. Brown on Jun. 23, 1987 describes a Hay Tote Vehicle, i.e., a pickup truck having a special rear bumper driven by a hydraulic ram to rotate about its axis. The bumper includes a pair of spikes extending therefrom. The pickup truck is backed into a hay bale, thus driving the horizontally disposed spikes into the bale, and the cylindrical bumper is rotated to lift the spikes through an arc and raise the bale. The disadvantage of having to back a vehicle to impale a bale on rearwardly disposed spikes, has been noted further above. Also, Brown fails to mention any source for his hydraulic power. Normally, light trucks such as pickups are not provided with auxiliary hydraulic power at the time of manufacture, but a hydraulic power pack is added with the installation of any devices requiring such (as in a snowplow). Thus, the Brown apparatus would require considerably more structure than that disclosed in his issued patent, in order to be operable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,558 issued to Jerald C. Ellis on Dec. 13, 1988 describes a Front Mounted Bale Carrier Assembly, closely resembling a small front end loader attachment for a tractor. Rather than having a bucket, however, Ellis provides a pair of tines adapted to engage a rolled bale. The apparatus would still require some form of hydraulic power, from the back of the tractor to the forwardly mounted lift cylinder. The present invention makes use of the previously installed hydraulic power pack and lift cylinder(s) of the snowplow headgear already mounted on the vehicle, and does not require any other hydraulics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,314 issued to Fred Todenhagen on Jan. 4, 1994 describes a Front-Mounted Spare Tire Rack For Snowplow Headgear. The Todenhagen device provides an additional use for the snowplow headgear at other times of the year, but no moving parts or hydraulic actuation is required; rather, the conventional spare tire is removably affixed to the modified snowplow headgear. Todenhagen requires the hydraulic power pack to be removed from the headgear, including disconnection of hydraulic lines therefrom. Thus, the Todenhagen apparatus could not be used to lift any portion of the plow assembly and/or any attachments thereto, such as the present hayroll spear, since all the hydraulics are removed.
Canadian Patent No. 1,063,979 issued to Gary McCullough on Oct. 9, 1979 describes a Vehicle Mounted Bale Lifter wherein the apparatus is mounted in the bed of a pickup truck. The hayroll spear component is secured near the lower rear edge of the bed, and pivots about a lateral axis. The upper end of the spear component has a draw arm which may be pulled downwardly and forwardly by a cable actuated winch, thereby lifting the hayroll spears upwardly. The device requires essentially the entire space of the pickup bed, and thus is not adaptable to attachment to the front of the truck, as in the present invention. No existing, previously installed snowplow headgear and/or hydraulic components are used in the McCullough device. The disadvantage of rearwardly mounted bale handling devices, and the relative difficulty in maneuvering the vehicle for operation thereof, has been noted further above.
Canadian Patent No. 1,189,030 issued to William G. Elynuik on Jun. 18, 1985 describes an Adjustable Round Bale Holder Or Loader For Front End Loaders. The device comprises a frame having a tine or tines removably mounted thereon, with the frame being removably attached to the operating arms of a front end loader. As such, the loader bucket must be removed, somewhat in the manner of the removal of the snowplow blade from the snowplow headgear in order to use the present invention. However, end loader buckets are not normally removed seasonally, as are snowplow blades, and thus the operation would be somewhat more involved to use the Elynuik device. Moreover, the device cannot be used with a pickup truck or the like, as front end loaders are not adapted for use with such trucks, in that neither the loader bucket and actuating arms nor the truck would normally be provided with an integral hydraulic power system.
British Patent Publication No. 1,548,029 to R. A. Lister Farm Equipment Ltd. and published on Jul. 4, 1979 describes an Apparatus For Handling Bales Or The Like, comprising a frame and lifting arms attachable to the front or rear end of a tractor. Again, as tractors conventionally include hydraulic pumps, power takeoffs, etc. as standard integral components, no disclosure of any hydraulic power means serving to actuate the disclosed hydraulic cylinders, is provided in the Lister Farm Equipment publication. The device is not adaptable for installation with an existing snowplow headgear assembly already installed on a pickup truck or the like, as provided by the present invention.
Finally, British Patent Publication No. 2,191,752 to John B. Williams and published on Dec. 23, 1987 describes a Bale Handling Device which provides for the wrapping of a cylindrical bale in plastic for preservation. The device attaches to a conventional three point hitch linkage of a tractor, which serves to lift the apparatus and any hayroll impaled thereon. The tractor power takeoff then spins the rolled bale tines and bale, to wrap the plastic sheet around the bale. The improvement in the Williams device is a safety clutch which serves to disengage the rotary action of the tines when the assembly is lowered. While the Williams device could be used for the transport of hayrolls, it is not adaptable to the snowplow headgear of a pickup truck, and no means is provided to secure a single tine directly to the lifting apparatus, as provided by the present invention.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.